There are some huge benefits in joining multi academy trusts including being able to share valuable resources between schools and negotiating better contracts because you have greater, collective ‘buying power’. It also gives the option for weaker, perhaps even struggling, schools to rise to a higher level.

One of the key factors facing any academy trust or school has always been how it communicates with stakeholders. The good news is that today’s advances in technology present numerous chances for teachers, pupils, governors and parents to stay in touch with each other, allowing everyone to take a bigger part in the running of any academy.

For multi academy trusts the development of easy access app technology has become a key factor in this communication revolution. One of these is the ‘school’ app which is designed to provide stakeholders with the information they need, all at the touch of a few mobile buttons.

Downloaded onto smartphones or tablets, this gives parents, in particular, the chance to develop a closer relationship with their academy and become involved in the day to day running. Content that can be included are important school documents, including Ofsted reports, term dates calendar features, sickness reporting and event management. Parents and other stakeholders can be sent individual notifications and the whole thing can be linked to social media platforms as well as the academies website.

For multi academy trusts this gives the chance to provided branded continuity across each academy so that everyone has access to the information they need, just when they need it. Whether you operate as a governor or are a parent, the world today seems to be so hectic with many things to do. Being able to communicate with your academy or school when you need to, without having to search out websites and log on, means that all communication facilities are streamlined into one, useful application.

Within each multi academy trust, individual academies can also tailor an app to their individual needs. It’s also a way to reduce costs across the board so that less is spent on administration. Your average app doesn’t require large numbers of staff sending out information – message delivery can be controlled and delivered by a small group of people who have permission to use post content.

Schools and academies are all trying to reduce their carbon footprints, as are most businesses and organisations are nowadays. Apps allow your academy to do just that – it means you’re spending less money on utilities or printing out information for parents, teachers and governors. It can all be handled from one central point and it’s entirely paper free.

Academies don’t have to worry about the extra cost of introducing additional communications to various stakeholders. Cost is also less of an issue when designing a dedicated app – perhaps ten years ago, getting this personal design would have cost a lot of money and would have had a big impact on the academy budget. This is no longer the case – cheap and easy to set up, the apps that are available today not only have much better usability but are also low cost options. And that doesn’t take into account the money you can save through streamlining your communication processes.

If you run a multi academy trust, it could be time to bring your communication into the 21^st century. Try the app for free today.